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5 Ford Bronco Sport Easter eggs

The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport might be based upon the Ford Escape, but it’s far more cheeky and fun than its urban sibling.

Like recent Jeeps and the larger Bronco, the Bronco Sport hides some Easter eggs. Bronco Chief Designer Paul Wraith told Motor Authority ahead of the reveal of the Bronco and Bronco Sport that the Easter eggs aren’t what most people expect.

“Our Easter eggs are not playful, or cartoonish, or jokey, but are there to provide background or heritage on the vehicle,” Wraith said.

During my week with the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands, I crawled around, opened up, and uncovered every Easter egg I could find. Some of them actually are fun and a others are quite useful.

In addition to these Easter eggs, I spotted some other playful graphics. The center screen plays a video of boulders forming into a bronco upon startup, while the instrument panel has a mountain graphic that resolves into a night sky complete with shooting stars. Under the rear seat is a storage bin with embossed labels for hiking equipment and a medical kit. According to a survey of our staff, however, these don’t qualify as Easter eggs, but I found five others that do.

Here are the Easter eggs I found in the Ford Bronco Sport.

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands

Accessory Ready

“Accessory Ready” is etched into the top of the windshield on the driver’s side. An arrow above it points to a spot on the roof that indicates a mounting point for accessories such as a light bar.

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands

Hooked

The hooks in the cargo bay have lassos embossed on them to indicate this here is where you tie up your cargo, pardner.

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands

That surf life

The outline of a small SUV with a surfboard hanging out the back is printed on the underside of the tailgate glass. We like the return to the good ol’ days when tailgate glass could be opened independently of the tailgate.

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands

Mountains, river, or off-road trail, you choose

The latch panel for the glass that houses the rear wiper motor has a mountain range embossed into it. Or it could be a river, or an off-road path, it’s not really clear. It’s whatever your imagination wants it to be.

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands

Bucking Bronco

Images of a bucking Bronco can be found all over the Bronco Sport. The Bronco logo in the side of each headlight bezel housing and on the light in the cargo area are Easter eggs in our eyes, while the ones on the steering wheel and stitched into the front seat backs are logos we’d expect in any vehicle.

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May 31, 2021
Jay Leno drives legendary Old Yeller II race car

Max Balchowsky’s Old Yeller II is a classic racing underdog, and not just because it’s named after a famous movie canine. Featured on the latest episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage,” this homebuilt special beat pedigreed Ferrari and Maserati sports cars back in the day.

Built in 1959, Old Yeller II was one in a series of specials built by Balchowsky, a California-based mechanic and race driver, and it was raced locally by legendary drivers like Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby. It’s now in the care of Dr. Ernie Nagamatsu, who appeared in the episode explaining the car’s history and quirks.

Old Yeller II is the ultimate expression of function over form. Its massive grille houses a radiator from a Studebaker truck, chosen by Balchowsky to address cooling issues with the car’s Buick “Nailhead” V-8 engine. The Goodyear whitewall tires aren’t a fashion statement; Balchowsky chose them because they had a softer rubber compound than conventional racing tires of the period.

Max Balchowsky’s 1959 Old Yeller II on Jay Leno’s Garage

As the styling implies, Old Yeller II was cobbled together using parts from many different sources. The Buick engine drives the rear wheels through a Muncie 4-speed transmission, the kind used in period Corvettes, Leno noted. The suspension uses Jaguar XK120 upper A-arms and Studebaker lower A-arms, all with holes drilled into them. That was for “crushability,” allowing parts to deform and absorb crash forces, Nagamatsu said.

That’s not the only clever engineering feature of this car. Balchowsky also installed a nerf bar on the driver’s side, but with lots of clearance between the bar and the driver’s hip. That offered better protection than most race cars of the period, Nagamatsu said. The engine is also mounted far back in the chassis to improve weight distribution, which likely helped Old Yeller II win so many races against purpose-built sports cars.

Watch the full video for more details on this important piece of racing history, and to see Leno drive it on the streets of Los Angeles.

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May 30, 2021
It’s the 30th anniversary of the 500 E, the Mercedes-Benz that Porsche built

AMG is rightfully regarded as the performance arm of Mercedes-Benz, even going back to the 1970s before the mothership took control of the little tuner shop. But for a brief moment in time, rival German automaker Porsche helped develop and build a Mercedes-Benz performance car. It was the 1991 Mercedes-Benz 500 E, and it’s celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The 500 E was based on the W124 generation of the venerable E-Class, but it was a low-volume, high-performance model that Mercedes needed help to build because a wider body wouldn’t fit down its assembly line. The timing was right for Porsche, which was in financial trouble, so the project worked out well for both automakers.

Porsche was responsible for turning the W124 E-Class into a V-8-powered sport sedan and for much of the car’s build process. To commemorate the car’s 30th birthday, Porsche produced two videos featuring two of the engineers who worked on the project, Michael Hölscher, project manager development, and Michael Mönig from prototype management.

Mercedes-Benz 500 E

To turn the W124 into a performance touring sedan, Porsche engineers reworked much of the body. The new body was 2.2 inches wider than the standard E-Class, and it featured different bumpers with distinctive wings. The cowl and engine compartment were modified to fit the overhead-cam 5.0-liter V-8 from the Mercedes SL 500. Air flowed into the engine compartment through the gaps around the headlights, and the intake had to be modified and insulated because it created too much noise. The whole area under the hood was reconfigured to fit the larger engine, and both engineers said it was an arduous process in the days before CAD. In its final form, the 500 E made 322 hp and 347 lb-ft of torque that could launch it from 0-62 mph in 5.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 155 mph.

Porsche engineers also moved the battery to the trunk for better weight distribution, lowered the car 0.9 inch, modified the center tunnel for a new exhaust, and installed bigger brakes. Every 500 E was a four-seater because the large rear differential sapped space for a middle rear seat.

The E 500 debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 1990 and production began that year. The build process for the 500 E was complicated. Mercedes provided body parts to Porsche, which assembled the body with additional parts it made. The body then went back to Mercedes for paint, and returned to Porsche for final assembly. The process took 18 days, and Porsche built a total of 10,479 cars by the end of the car’s run in April 1995.

Mercedes-Benz 500 E

Hölscher and Mönig drove an example of the car to mark the 30th anniversary, and Hölscher loved the way it drove, even after all this time. “Its handling is magnificent. The longitudinal acceleration is excellent, the brakes are outstanding and it’s a pleasure to drive this car with its dynamic character,” he said. “I really enjoy the beautiful and unobtrusive sound of the eight-cylinder engine.”

That’s not a surprise given the exacting standards of both brands. In this instance, Porsche engineering made a Mercedes better, and the project helped keep an iconic but struggling sports car brand afloat.

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May 29, 2021